Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1887-1890, 1887-11-26
PLENTY OF SILVER.
Mr.. McGinnis Examines the Barker
and Neihart Mining canlps-He
Finds Rich Lands and Rich
Mines Out that Way.

1 y
The scribe of the Tribune overhauled
d. r. McGinnis, the Manitoba passenger
agent, on his return from the Barker and
Neihart mining camps, with the following
result:
What route did you take?
"By Belt postoflice and then to Arming-
tons ranch where we were Hospitality en-
tertained by our friend Mcqueen; then up
the Belt to the mouth Of the canyon where
Rice has just started his ranch, over the
| high bench lands and up Dry fork to
Barker; from there to Neihart and back
to Great Falls by the Little and Big Rea-
Yer.''
Was the character of the country up to
your expectations, and what do you think
| of its farming capabilities?
at is even better than expected to see.
| am enthusiastic over it. / was pleased
with the strong clay loan between Great
Falls and the Belt, and the limestone
bench lands in the foothills of the Belt
| range are as fine a strong, black soil as
the famous blue grass region of Kentucky.
will stake my judgment on it that crops
can be raised up there as certainly without
| irrigation as on the best prairie lands of
Illinois. mall my experience have new
er seen such strong and thick wheat stub
bic as ON the farms out there, and now /
hpiS fhnt Ic Of
80 and 40 bushels of wheat to the acre
are actual facts. You know that if we get
Is to Is bushels per acre back east we are
| we'll satisfied. And the stock, well, it is
strange sight to d pilgrim from Minnesota
to see them ranging around, fat as butter,
rustling for their own living this time of
the year. am firmly persuaded that all
the land | saw suitable for the ploW, will
raise crops with reasonable certainty,
without Irrigation. If am not greatly
mistaken there will be a tall scramble to
get them before great many moons roll
around
MINERAL. TREASURES.
What CT the Barker mines?
s'Well, | am we'll satisfied that there is
lots Of mineral there and of the right kind
for easy reduction; friable silver bearing
carbonates, rich ia lead. Burghardt and
his friends took me through the Silver
Belle, the May and Edna, the Wright 6
Edwards and other mines, and could
very easily see that they were in rich
lodes."
What were the results of your investi-
cations at Neihart?
Favorable in a high degree. The ore of
the Neihart lodes is of a different charac-
ter from that of Barker; very rich in sill
yer but running very low in lead. Just
think of it, 16 or Il parallel PERPENDICULAR
veins piercing old Neihart Baldy, and of
so persistent nature that of all the 40 or
50 locations examined, not one failed to
show solid paying ore body. Some of
these lodes have been traced 1900 feet
and there is already thousands OF tons of
ore in sight 1t is camp of great prom
ise and soon as cheap transportation can
be had it is sure TO boom. 1t can't help
it. The Neihart folks are hopeful and
developmental work is going right along
in anticipation of the coming of the rail-
road rext year.
REDUCTION WORKS NEEDED.
"By the way, if you don't get reduction
works started soon at Great Falls you will
not be living up to your opportunities. 1t
is a natural point for such an enterprise,
for here all the different materials, the
soft carbonate of Barker mixed with the
harder ores of Neihart, the limestone, the
iron for fiuxing, the charcoal, coal and
power can be most cheaply brought to-
gether. By the way a fellow out at Nei-
hart showed me fine sample of iron ore
which he said came from d solid s'hog-
back ledge, which extends right up the
mountain side for hundreds of feet, near
the forks Of the Belt Obi / tell you
it is a wonderful country for the base and
precious meta,s. and its future is. beyond
computation. Well, I'll stop right here,
but before I do, want to say that those
Barker and Neihart miners are lot of
great hearted, hospitable fellows and We
were treated right royalty by them while
there
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